Leadership

President

Mr. Paranjpe represents both plaintiffs and defendants in federal courts, state courts, and in mediations or arbitrations. Mr. Paranjpe also reviews, drafts, and negotiates many aspects and types of entertainment industry and business contracts. Mr. Paranjpe merged his previous law firm, The Mentlewski Paranjpe Law Group, into Paranjpe & Mahadass LLP. Mr. Paranjpe has a vast amount of trial and negotiation experience through his previous position as a Criminal Defense Trial Attorney for a local law firm that has represented thousands of clients in the greater Houston area.

Mr. Paranjpe held an in-house counsel position with a large international manufacturing corporation where he worked on both domestic and international treatises and compliance issues.

Mr. Paranjpe has been an active member of SABA Houston since 2011.

In his spare time, Mr. Paranjpe enjoys cooking, running and swimming (so he can continue to cook), scuba diving, keeping up with new films, spending time with his family, friends and wife, and chasing around his Australian-Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix dog Indy. Mr. Paranjpe’s current favorite Houston restaurant is Underbelly.

President-Elect

Poorav Rohatgi is an associate in the Houston office of Haynes and Boone, LLP. His legal practice spans numerous commercial litigation areas, including breach of contract and business torts, and government enforcement areas. Poorav has represented clients in mediations, federal courts, state courts, and international arbitrations. Most recently, he represented the National Football League during the Super Bowl in Houston.

Originally from Florida, he first made his way to North Carolina to obtain his B.A. in Political Science from Duke University and then traversed to Texas to receive his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law. Poorav is active in the community. He sits on the board of the Duke University Kenan Institute for Ethics, the Texas Law Houston Young Alumni Steering Committee, and the Houston Urban Debate League Young Professionals Council. Poorav is a Houston Young Lawyers Foundation Fellow and CLE Co-Chair for the Houston Young Lawyers Association.

SABA Houston has played a tremendous role in acclimating Poorav to Houston. His favorite bar is McIntyre's!

Co-Vice President of Community Outreach and CLE Programming

Neal is an associate at AZA Law. His practices focuses on all types of complex commercial litigation in state and federal court. He also has experience with internal and government investigations, including proceedings before the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of State. He has advised clients on global commercial compliance risks associated with mergers, acquisitions and asset sales and is familiar with the FCPA and trade sanctions.

Neal came to AZA from Latham & Watkins LLP. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. He interned with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender. Before law school, Neal worked as a management consultant at Fidelity Consulting Group in Boston. He earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College.

In his free time, Neal has devoted numerous hours to pro bono clients, including representing prisoners in civil rights proceedings, victims of abuse in domestic violence proceedings, and recent immigrants with the citizenship process. He also volunteered abroad in Lucknow, India, handling legal issues for rural villagers.

​Vice President of Gala​Mala SharmaSharma & Associates(281) 893-8644

Mala Sharma is an attorney at Sharma & Associates, P.C. and practices law with her dad and two sisters. The firm specializes in Personal Injury Auto Accident Cases, Family Law - Divorces, Custody, and Child Support, Immigration Law, and Criminal Law. A native of Texas, Mala received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Houston and a Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.Besides practicing law, Mala is also president emeritus of the Houston Northwest Bar Association, board member of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association, chair of the Houston Young Lawyer’s Association Solo/Small Firm Committee. Mala was appointed to the Texas Commission on Fire Protection by Governor Abbott in 2017. Additionally, Mala's two new favorite restaurants are Roka Akor and Aqui.

Co-Vice President of Community Outreach and CLE Programming

Mukul S. Kelkar Dentons

﻿Mukul S. Kelkar is a member of Dentons' Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice, with a focus on general commercial litigation. He has experience representing matters involving shareholder/partnership disputes, real estate disputes and qui tam litigation.In his roles as an assistant district attorney for the Fort Bend County (TX) District Attorney's Office and in private practice, Mukul has tried more than 30 bench and jury trials. Mukul received his law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Mukul is fluent in Marathi and proficient in Spanish.

Co-Vice President of Communication

Puja Parekh Orrick (713) 658-6418

Puja Parekh represents clients in the energy industry and focuses her practice on oil and gas transactions.Puja advises oil and gas industry clients in domestic and international acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, and project development, including unconventional and conventional upstream, midstream, and downstream transactions. She also advises clients in the formation of joint ventures investing in oil and gas assets and backed by private-equity sponsors.Puja’s corporate practice includes representing oil and gas clients on matters relating to restructuring, recapitalization, and issuances and sales of equity interests. She also has experience assisting clients with respect to engineering, procurement, and construction agreements for liquefied natural gas facilities and in the purchase and sale of natural gas storage facilities.Puja is fluent in Hindi, Gujarati, and Urdu.

Vice President of Sponsorship

Raj MahadassParanjpe & Mahadass LLP (832) 667-7700rmahadass@pandmllp.com​Mr. Mahadass represents both plaintiffs and defendants in state courts, mediations, and arbitrations. Mr. Mahadass also drafts business contracts and estate planning documents. Before forming the partnership of Paranjpe & Mahadass LLP, Mr. Mahadass was an Assistant District Attorney for Harris County. Previously, Mr. Mahadass was an Assistant Staff Attorney for the Harris County Office of Court Management, and an Assistant to the General Counsel at the Harris County Attorney’s Office. Through his prior experiences, Mr. Mahadass has expertise in arguing motions in court, leading negotiations, drafting motions and other litigation documents, and preparing contracts for large and small entities.

Mr. Mahadass grew up in New Jersey and moved to New Orleans where he graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Science in Management, with majors in two business fields, magna cum laude. He graduated from the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta.

Mr. Mahadass has been an active member since SABA Houston was relaunched over 5 years ago. In his spare time, Mr. Mahadass enjoys playing golf, watching a variety of sports, exploring the Houston culinary scene, and generally spending time with his family and friends. Although he loves trying out new restaurants on a regular basis, Mr. Mahadass’ current favorite Houston restaurant is BCN Taste & Tradition.

Treasurer

Avani Gossai Assistant General Counsel, Morae GlobalAvani Gossai is Assistant General Counsel at Morae Global Corporation. Morae's goal is to assist law departments and law firms operate in the most effective and efficient manner by providing end-to-end solutions to fulfill all needs—focused on people and technology, supported by process, guided by strategy and measured by data using analytics.Avani's favorite Houston restaurant is Gilhooley's.

Secretary

Meha GargiNoble Energy

Meha grew up in Houston, graduating from the University of Houston Magna Cum Laude with a BBA in Finance and Management, and later with Dean’s List Honors from South Texas College of Law. Her career before and since becoming an attorney has spanned the government, non-profit and small firm sectors. After working as an Independent Oil and Gas Landman the past five years, she now works as a Division Order Analyst for a large Houston based E&P, building off her title experience in the field and in-house.

Meha’s a true Houston food scene enthusiast and will give you her top haunts for anything from Tex-mex to brunch, and where to find the best chocolate chip cookie in town.

Vice President of Social Events​

Ajay KetkarThe Vethan Law Firm, P.C.(844) 824-2224

Ajay Ketkar is a trial lawyer whose practice focuses on complex commercial litigation. His experience includes breach of contract cases, breach of fiduciary duty, conflicts between business partners, intellectual property infringement, and going after employers that fail to pay their employees overtime wages. Prior to joining The Vethan Law Firm, Ajay worked for law firms that represented the victims of some of the biggest industrial accidents in the country.

While attending the University of Houston Law Center, Ajay served as a legal intern to Judge Harold R. DeMoss, Jr. of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Additionally, Ajay competed in numerous advocacy competitions, emerging as a finalist in the John L. Costello Trial Advocacy Competition at George Mason University, and the James Hippard Sr. Mock Trial Competition.

Ajay is active in the legal community as a member of the State Bar of Texas, Houston Bar Association, Houston Young Lawyers Association, and the South Asian Bar Association.

Co-Vice President of CommunicationsWinfield WilliamsGlaze Garrett, PLLC​Winfield Williams received his Law Degree from South Texas College of Law. Winfield has a Plaintiff's personal injury injury practice, where he regularly fights on behalf victims injured by the wrongful conduct of individuals and companies. Winfield has first chair trial experience in Harris, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Brazoria Counties.During law school, Winfield participated in South Texas' nationally recognized advocacy program, interned at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and clerked at a prominent Houston personal injury law firm. He also studied international and human rights law in Santiago, Chile. Winfield has been an active member of SABA Houston since 2012.